Research

Research interest

My main research interest is to use lake sediment as a historical archive to address questions about past climate and effects of long term catchment changes on carbon cycling.

Climate change during the past 3.6 million years in the Arctic and Sub-antarctic region

Our research group is the first in the world to have shown that fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS) of sediment records can be used as a quantitative multi-proxy technique for climate reconstructions (Vogel et al. 2008; Rosen et al. 2010). My main aim is to develop this technique further and use FTIRS for high-resolution climatic reconstruction during the past 3.6 million years, using five unique sediment records from Russia, Canada, Argentina, Makedonia and Finland as well as a marine sediment core from Antarctica. The first record is the longest, most continuous terrestrial records of past climate in the Arctic and will extend the climate record in the continental Arctic 30 times.

Two issues of specific interest are the synchrony of climate change on the global scale and whether global warming is typically associated with a cold reversal due to melting ice and altered ocean circulation short after warming has started. The Younger Dryas Cold Reversal is one example of such a reversal, which occurred in the beginning of the current interglacial. If this is a general phenomenon, the rapid freshening of northern ocean observed in recent decades may similarly dramatically affect future climate change scenarios.

In collboration with Cologne University; University of Bremen, Université Laval, Quebec and Stockholm University.

Funding via Vetenskapsrådet (VR), FORMAS and Kempe foundation

Further information:
International Continental Scientific Program

Lake water organic carbon in northern lake ecosystems during the past 10 000 years

Climate change plays a major role for changes in vegetation, hydrological pathways, permafrost distribution in arctic and subarctic landscapes. These changes will affect the transportation of organic carbon (OC) from terrestrial to aquatic environments. Our main interest is to assess how historical changes in the landscape have affected the transportation of organic carbon to lake ecosystems. A second interest is to study how these changes affect the algae communities and the transportation of pollution. Of particular interest are the linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

We mainly use infrared spectroscopy (FTIRS, VNIRS) and WD-XRF to further understand the effects of long term changes on carbon cycling (Rosén 2005; Rosén and Hammarlund 2007; Rosén et al. 2009; Kokfelt et al. 2009; Cunningham et al. in 2010; Rydberg et al. 2010). Of special interest is the effects of past climate, permafrost dynamics, tree-line changes, fire, acidification/liming, mire formation and early agricultural land-use for the carbon cycling.
Climate warming plays a major role for changes in vegetation, hydrological pathways, permafrost distribution in arctic and subarctic landscapes. These changes will affect the transportation of organic carbon (OC) from terrestrial to aquatic environments. Our main interest is to assess how historical changes in the landscape have affected the transportation of organic carbon to lake ecosystems. A second interest is to study how these changes affect the algae communities and the transportation of pollution. Of particular interest are the linkages between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.

In collboration with SLU, Uppsala; Lund University; University College London; Queens University, Canada; Université Laval, Canada.

This research is funded via FORMAS, Naturvårdsverket and Kempe foundation

Page Editor: Elisabet Carlborg
2011-02-02